XCOM: Omega Six
by Hobbes
Summary: A story I'm working on, based on the new game, XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Chapter one and two edited, chapter three in progress.
1. One

XCOM: Omega Six

Chapter One

"Stay with us! Stay with us!"

_Shadows in the lit street ahead of me. Monsters moving within them, hiding inside my dreams. _

_Am I dreaming? Am I a monster? _

_Children run around me, my brother's face painted white and red in a demoniacal ghoul while a reflection on a window shows me wearing a Frankenstein mask running after him, as we go for trick and treat during Halloween, other children coming outside, a circus of monsters and freaks stretching over the street, until one zombie child stops, her face turns to me and the distorted mouth whispers from afar but I can hear the words: monster... killer... murderer..._

_One by one, the other monsters, zombies and aliens turn to me and whisper: beast... assassin... freak..._

_Blood squirts out of their eyes and into the concrete of the street, forming a red and shiny pool that advances towards my... boots? I see my assault rifle hanging limp from my hand instead of a bag of treats._

"_Monster... stay with us!"._

_The crowd moves forward and I try to back off but I find my retreat cutoff by the small figures who push me forward with fanged fingers, scratching and biting until they engulf me as I keep try to push them away._

_But no matter how much I punch and push it only seems to make them angrier, their black and cold eyes filled with rage, the slits extending almost until their ears, and a meaningless expression on their nose-less faces and square chin until they raise their heads and give cackling sounds in a never ending symphony, as their hands reach and scratch my face and arms._

_I grow angry and start hitting them back. "Monster... monsters..." _

"Come back dammit!"

Someone slaps me on the face and the movement feels like a steel hammer being slammed on my head. I feel a salty iron taste on my lips and a cough bursts blood upwards from my mouth and raining over my face. "We got him back!"

My eyes start to open and a shadowed figure leans over me, smiling in relief.

Dora.

_Come back_.

I remember now... back to the Skyranger.

* * *

"Strike One - ready to deploy". The pilot's voice cracks amongst the interference of the com link as the group of soldiers wait as the back ramp of the Skyranger transport starts lowering even before the plane hits the ground in a somewhat controlled crash, making all of us reach for the handholds on the ceiling and inner walls to regain our balance as we are thrown sideways and then upwards as the aircraft's tricycle wheels nearly jump off the asphalt after hitting the street.

_How did I get here?_

The other three members of Gamma squad have also kept quiet during the past minutes inside the Skyranger. Right next to the door, Rollins rechecks the magazine of his rifle for the hundredth time, while Okabe has his eyes closed and head lowered and is apparently in some sort of mumbling to himself although I can't understand anything of what he's saying on his native language. And next to me is Dora, her braid rolling down her neck, who hasn't said anything since takeoff.

Well, she has been quiet for the past week so that hasn't changed, unlike Rollins or Okabe, who now are suddenly more silent than ever and we can only heard the wind and the cursing of the pilot as he regains control of the plane until it finally lands still.

_Gunnar's death really got to her. _

There isn't much to look at after a plasma bolt hits you square on the face – at least your brain and mouth get incinerated fast enough so that you can't hear them screaming such as when Quang had a new hole carved into his stomach or Martinez's arm being sliced above the elbow, both dying of shock and mass bleeding a few minutes afterwards but screaming the whole time on the active com link.

In a few seconds half of Delta squad was wiped out on the first combat drop in a obscure neighborhood in Germany and at the end only one soldier walked, or actually limped back out of the first combat mission, as the Commander was about to order a pull-out. One bare victory for the home team at the beginning of the season but things are only starting.

Now it's our turn after waiting for days for our chance to fight the enemy. ETA, less than three minutes and counting... time slipped since the pilot's last announcement before the landing. And that's about the average time that should take for one of us to get killed after we step out of that ramp. Or at least that's what we heard yesterday after weapons training while on pre-alert.

I pull back the receiver and cycle a fresh Enhanced Piercing round into my X-9 Assault Rifle. It's an experimental model, like most material that we've seen and used on the past months, some being full 'black' projects like the Skyranger supersonic transport that is about to transition to vertical flight mode to land after flying several times faster than a bullet. I had heard before of the X-9 but I've never taken it into combat before or heard of the EPs – enhanced penetration rounds for maximum power. Apparently just the mere existence of the EPs is in violation of a few international treaties – something to do with the depleted uranium inside them. Which we were also advised not to let it get into close contact with any part of our body – no proven health hazards but better to be safe just in case...

We are packed to be ready the second we step out of the Skyranger and into the area of operations – everyone is packed with brown body armor plates, assault rifles, pistols and grenades. The evacuation procedure must be advanced at this stage as it started even before we left HQ and we shouldn't encounter any civilians on the area – any live ones, at least. Them, operational orders to deploy, seek and destroy any hostiles before the situation starts getting out of control and one of the Council's countries starts fidgeting with the nuke button and feels tempted to end the whole thing with a bang and turning everything into big fireball. With us included.

No one really talks about Plan B but it was clear from the radio chatter on approach that a lot of aircraft are operating close to the AO and they are quite skittish and anxious to do _something_. And I'm quite sure we want to be a long way from here when _it_ happens. The Commander may have complete authority over all sites but no one believes that any country will simply let the aliens go unpunished if we fail to stop them – and those F-18 Aussie pilots sounded very anxious about what is going on right now.

The whole thing started about three hours ago – Alpha squad was about to cycle out after a 24 hour alert status – me and Rollins had just left the cafeteria and were walking our way back to Barracks when Central announced: "Condition Red. All ready crews report to their stations. Condition Red. Al..."

We stopped on our tracks and started racing towards the Armory and nearly crashed into a party of scientists who had stopped behind us to listen to the announcement. Dora and Okabe arrived shortly after us and while equipping Mission Control informed us that Australia's air defense radars had detected several fast-moving objects hitting the atmosphere and crashing into one of their cities.

After a final weapon check we were gone towards the hangar – all squads wore their body armor while on alert and we packed lightly for speed. Then we got inside and were strapped to a flying bullet and now there's a red light on the ceiling that starts revolving and a few moments later the back ramp starts lowering down with the cabin being filled with the whine of the hydraulic engines. .

The tempest outside sends a blast of air through our faces along with a water spray from the hurricane winds blowing higher and higher. The highway pavement is a giant puddle fueled by the squall that quickly fills the space around Rollins and Okabe's boots as they move quickly forward after the ramp is lowered. After they signal go, I set the butt of my rifle against my shoulder and raise the barrel while slipping past their crouched figures in a quick pace towards the lit street ahead.

A bare glance around and something is clearly wrong here – both lanes of the street have immobile cars with both their lights and some with their engines working, the exhaust fumes raising under the heavy rain. And there's a green figure laying on the ground ahead of me on the central sidewalk. One of the abductees, all wrapped up and ready for pickup by the aliens. Okabe joins my side with his rifle also cocked and ready for action as the squad finishes securing the landing area from any hostiles. There are also a few squad cars visible with their top red and blue lights flashing but the police officers are nowhere to be seen.

It's all about Standard Operating Procedure – ours and theirs. Aliens launch armored pods from orbit on the middle of a populated area to snatch and immobilize test subjects and afterwards drop recovery teams to secure the goods before extraction. Meanwhile the country's leadership calls HQ, Commander sends the alert strike team on the Skyranger and available civil and military authorities in the area evacuate any remaining civilians and establish a three-zone restricted perimeter, with the outer Green for combat support and evacuation procedures, intermediate Yellow for security and containment and finally the off-limits Red Zone right on the center of the alien incursion. Then they wait for the cavalry to arrive or for the aliens to pack and leave, whichever goes first... at least that's the plan.

"Strike One is authorized to deploy, over. Careful out there". Bradford's voice sounds a lot less cocky than on the last mission. Despite his precaution there isn't much cover available other than the cars so when Rollins signals me to take point I start moving with a quick stride towards a passenger car to the right, while the rest of the squad prepares to follow my lead. After a brief pause by the hood of the nearest car, I set for the station wagon in front.

Until a flash of green energy bursts from behind one of the police cars and cuts the air in front of me right before I turn my shoulder to hit the side of the vehicle and its dubious protection. The alien who fired is crouched on the other side of the next civilian car.

"Get a lock on it!" The com link bursts with Okabe's voice but I'm already moving my arm to my belt as I reach with my right hand for the grenade on my back and after a quick assessment throw it on an arc that ends on the roof of the white car, making the frag jump and drop to the other side of the car.

"Eat this!" I find myself grinning stupidly as I duck back into cover before a blast and an alien cry signal the death of the Sectoid who fired at me. First kill. I check that the alien is down, his open gray hand visible next to the black tire.

"Commander!" This time Vahlen's voice is quickly shut off by Central after the full blown argument that took place between her and Bradford on the last mission.

As the doctor tell us over and over, no one knows what those things are so we need to salvage as much as possible. To me, I didn't believe it was real until we saw the live footage of the first mission and later one of the bodies they brought back. A head, two legs and two arms and are about the size of a preteen but that's where the resemblance ends. Their head is much larger in proportion to their body than a human, their bulbous eyes seem made of gelatin and they have no mouth even though they are quite capable of emitting sounds. And they carry zap wrist guns which make no distinction between melting Kevlar armor and live flesh when they hit. And all other sorts of glowing weird stuff that no one has faced before.

This one is surely dead as a yellowish fluid starts oozing from its body and mixing with the ground water. I drop one knee to the ground and scan the street while I signal the rest of the squad to hold. Zero movement.

There's something different though – on the previous missions the aliens haven't bothered with our presence until we engaged them. But here one of them was right next to the Skyranger, waiting in place to ambush us when we started moving.

"Three, anything out there?"

One final scan of the lit street ahead before I look back at Okabe - the rest of the squad is crouched near another car to my seven o'clock – and report all clear.

He signals me to advance. As I start moving I spot the blaze of a fire on a side street ahead – most likely some sort of accidental fire caused by the alien attack. The next car is in flames from my previous grenade so I need to avoid it before the gasoline cooks off as I'm dashing towards a station wagon with a stuffed Winnie the Pooh Tigger smiling at me from the rear window before my vision flashes to the position I wanted to reach.

_Too obvious._

The Sectoid's head peeks briefly from the side of the van before it brings up its plasma pistol and fires. The first burst misses me as the green plasma hits the flaming car but another quick flash follows and before the brain registers the greenish lightning a sudden wall of heat and pain hits me suddenly on my side. Then I'm falling and the whole world turns dark and the sound of automatic fire starts fading.

Until now. One of my eardrums must be busted from the blast since I'm deaf from that side but I still can hear close gunfire. I'm hurting in a few places but it doesn't feel too bad... yet.

"Patrick, are you listening to me?" I open my eyes slowly, afraid of what I'll see. The numbness of my body recedes but a firm hand keeps me down to the floor, increasing my dread that some part of myself will be missing, like a leg or even my balls.

Dora is staring at me and after locking eyes with her fr a moment I try again to get up but a sudden nausea and her hands force me down. "Stay here and play dead. They're still around".

Play dead? I'm starting to think that might be better than to withstand the pain that keeps washing over me despite the painkillers, irradiating from my whole backside and the stench of burned flesh reaches my nose. The plasma blast did damage but doesn't look too serious and a look down to my holster shows that the polymer handle of my sidearm is completely ruined in a black enameled crust. Probably that's what saved the rest of me from the explosion.

Satisfied that I stopped moving she then leaps forward towards the direction of the controlled gunfire bursts at the distance. The Skyranger is still parked at the drop zone, the exhaust from its idle engines sending a heat column through the rain – it's ready for take-off at any moment by the pilots since it's too valuable for any of them to leave the craft to come and rescue me so if the mission gets aborted I'll be left behind for the aliens.

_Again, just wait..._

* * *

Thousands of kilometers away three people were clustered together and standing like giants over the small brown soldier laying close as his head dropped on one side.

"Sir, Alpha Three's vitals are now stable – he must have passed out again from that explosion". None of the three men looked at the technician who reported the information from one of the room's stations spread around the central area. Instead, the older of the three, an Asian wearing steel glasses and a variation of the green uniforms that everyone was wearing inside the room simply comments. "It seems the Medikit has worked – just in time".

The sound of gunfire in the room was starting to increase again – they were watching live footage of the area of operations that was currently being recorded by any cameras, public and private, that might be looking at the area, including the soldier's individual ones. A massive supercomputer housed somewhere on the base then processed all the data and used 3D projectors on the ground and top of the command chamber to create a virtual battlefield about the size of a small swimming pool where the buildings were almost the same height as the human observers.

The three men were standing on a small platform right next to the projection area, allowing for an observer to be also fully immersed on the virtual reality display if the system was set for normal zoom level. However, the display level was currently set so that the Skyranger in front of the men was about the same height as their knees. Two burning cars were still releasing smoke despite the heavy rain which obscured the view past them making the system dependent on the soldier's cameras.

The critically injured soldier was visible but they were keeping their attention on the three human figures the size of action figures that were methodically advancing between the abandoned cars – and on the red outlined alien that was also moving, appearing and vanishing as the troopers spotted and lost track of it.

The alien had pulled back to the front of the van after the car explosion and both Rollins and Okabe were taking turns keeping an eye on it while firing occasional bursts from the police car at the direction of the bus stop that it was using for cover. Until the alien raised its hand above the head and fired its wrist pistol hitting Rollins on his left shoulder.

The soldier's grunt and curse was quickly replaced by Okabe' command. "Four, sweep right! Take it out!" The third figure that was separated suddenly dashed forward on a brisk pace, assault rifle ready on her hands.

Pressing its attack, the alien fired again at Rollins but this time it missed as the large soldier was hiding most of his bulk behind the front of the car, while Okabe started screaming as he rose his own rifle in frustration and discharged the rest of the clip trying to hit the Sectoid until a clanking sound signals the magazine is spent. "Out of ammo!"

As the alien readied his plasma pistol for a second shot Rollins nearly starts panicking and decided to pull back to the better protection of a parked SUV rather than the police car that he's using. But before the Sectoid fired, the remaining soldier appeared on the side of a close parked car after crawling her way while it was distracted trying to hit Rollins. And with a fast gesture, the soldier lined up her rifle and sent a spray of bullets that puncture the alien in several locations, making it drop first its weapon before dropping dead to the ground, with the pistol exploding into fragments shortly after.

"Hostile down". The second figure on the platform was wearing the same green pullover and pants and his combat boots towered over the smaller dwarf soldiers but he wasn't carrying any weapons and simply looking at the screen. Instead he only had a set of headphones to which he would speak occasionally.

"Two more inbound, Four. Stay put".

Three more Sectoids had come running with their characteristic gait from the opposite side of the street. A short burst from Okabe's X-9 rifle had sent them scurrying for cover the moment they spotted the humans ducked on the cars but they had been quickly to react to the new presence.

"They're doing that mind shit again!" Okabe's warning made one of the technicians to zoom on the scene. One of the Sectoids had fallen back to a safer position when suddenly its head started to glow from its inside with a bright light and a flow of blue energy started flowing from one alien's head to the other, making it also glow.

"Get Dr Vahlen back, she wanted to see this". The lead Sectoid was advancing, its head glowing with the weird energy as it was quickly crawling its way to the car nearest to the police cruiser and ignoring the shots being fired by Dora, who had stood her position but was now in risk of being over flanked by the alien's sudden advance.

As the creature reached its intended position one of Four's shots hit it on the arm making it emit a short grumbling sound but the pause was temporary as it shook off the pain and then reacquired its target, swiftly firing a shot that hit the unprotected space between the chest and helmet pieces of Okabe's armor, with the energized plasma atoms nearly splitting his head from the rest of its body. With slow thump, the dead body leaned against the hood of the car, with the helmeted head still hanging by strips of skin and tissue and splashing it with blood.

"Man down! Man down!" Bradford's voice is noticed but no one inside the room makes any reaction to the announcement. Instead, a screaming voice starts to raise on the speakers: "No! No! No!" and continuing the sound until a sudden hand movement from Bradford to another technician stopped the voice, leaving only the sound of gunfire as the remaining soldier started peppering the area around the aliens with gunfire.

"Rollins, shut up now! Four, pull back and rejoin Two. Get it together people". The officer wearing a combat uniform was stepping closer to the projection, while Dr. Shen had turned into a statue and Bradford's lip was twirled in anger as he turned and spoke. "Commander, we need to pull back!"

* * *

_The Sandman's coming on his train of cars_

_With moonbeam windows and with wheels of stars_

The laughter of the nursery rhyme keeps echoing on my head as the thump of another explosion brings me back to the area of operations, with rivulets of water running down my face. I've heard this voice before, three or four years ago, in a crap hole in central Africa that I try not to remember anymore.

Eventually our luck would ran out – Alpha was supposed to be the ready squad for the combat drop in Germany they set up the new rotational schedule. Otherwise my ass would most likely be blasted a week ago rather than today and it might also be quicker rather than leaving me crippled here today in the middle of a storm. Well, I would have been in Gunnar's position last week on Germany so I guess it would have been quicker than this, one moment you see a creature crawling around the line of wooden crates you're using for cover and you become too startled to react before it shoots you straight on the head. At least you aren't left afterwards to try to second guess what you might do different next time.

For us who watched the mission back a the base it became clear that we wouldn't be acting like UN peace mission or facing a small, limited, group of fanatics bend on changing the world according to whatever idea they preach. Instead, our expectations of the mission came down on flames the moment we saw the body bags being brought back to HQ. Not that I spent this week doing anything particularly meaningful since it might be my last days– the best way to deal with the losses is to ignore it and stick to routine.

Dora had noticed it also – she told me one day after weapons training. After the memorial everyone seemed too focused on what they were doing but at the same time rather distant – I hardly remember speaking to anyone else other than she, Rollins, Okabe and a few others during the past days – like having a pistol pointed to your head and be waiting for the click before the bang, I almost added, remembering a similar feeling. Only this time there won't be anything left to save or to lose – and we'll be the ones lucky to have died first.

* * *

Thousands of miles away from Mission Control, the soldier who had killed the last alien had just finished reloading her X-9 rifle and was considering her current choices. The two Sectoids were using the police car parked on the other side of the street to approach Rollins' position, with one of the aliens providing suppressing fire that was keeping the soldier's head down.

"Dora, give me a hand here!" The former Navy SEAL was still breathing heavily after regaining his tactical sense back but he had clearly cracked under pressure despite being considered an elite soldier. Despite all the preparation and previous combat experience he had 'OCP'ed' - the brutality of the first mission had affected everyone in different ways – they were outnumbered, outgunned and fighting the most deadly foe ever that they didn't understand almost nothing other than they seem to have no respect for human life or the rules of warfare. And the whole nature of the fight was still mind boggling for many – the base therapist had explained that they were facing an Outside Context Problem – they were facing a superior civilization that many didn't consider possible until they stepped out of the Skyranger and saw a live alien. Add to it the stress of a combat situation and mental breakdowns had become common during the first mission and also here.

_It's killing time._

Moving quickly around the van but away from Rollins with her rifle raised to her shoulder, the soldier stopped and turned on her left foot, bringing the weapon's sight aligned with the front of the vehicle, while her body swiveled to face the Sectoid. It was also starting to react to her presence but too late as a the three shots of a X-9 burst all score on its head, killing it instantly. "Van clear!"

"Two, pull back and join Four!" With the Commander's voice anticipating her call, Dora considered briefly the situation. She had spotted the now dead alien briefly before the second group had hit and had been able to guess its position and approach safely without being noticed.

The two Sectoids had paused since her new position exposed their advance towards the car that Rollins was running from to rejoin her next to the van. The Skyranger was barely visible between the rain and at the distance and it seemed the noise from its engines was pitching up – the pilot must have been ordered to prepare for emergency dust-off. And there was still a third one lurking around and most likely trying to flank her position.

One of the Sectoids had started throbbing its head upwards and she immediately recognized the motion – they were going to do that mind melding crap again that had killed Okabe and suddenly she felt her instincts telling her to flee immediately as a sense of doom and hopelessness started freezing her in place.

Rollins had reached the side of the van and nearly had a hole carved on his shoulder armor from the previous wound he had suffered. As the leading Sectoid reached the car in front of he dropped down his rifle and instead reached for the fragmentation grenade on his combat belt, swiftly grabbing and priming it, before throwing it on a perfect arc that made it land right in front of the alien. The sudden blast shook Dora's spirit up but with a grunt she realized that the alien was still standing up amongst the smoke and rain after the frag grenade had detonated.

And then the Sectoid lined its pistol and sent two plasma shots that hit Rollins on the chest, making it grumble briefly into the mike and then drop lifeless to the floor. Suddenly the weight of the assault rifle felt like a ton of stone on her hands as the sound of her own voice felt strangled and distant. "Alpha Two is down. Help!"

The storm seemed to be subduing as the sound of the wind and rain started to fade away to Dora and her helmet started to tighten around her head, making her vision start to funnel. But as a wave of panic burst through her body, she focused her sight on the Sectoid that had fallen back behind the police cruiser and her fingers froze unconsciously on the trigger of the assault rifle, spitting a stream of bullets that started bouncing off the hood of the car in front of the alien, until a final sudden involuntary hand twitch sent the last bullet upwards and through the Sectoid's chest before lodging itself inside the alien.

_It's killing time._

The inner voice surprised her and caused the panic to crash like broken glass, as the Sectoid screamed and dropped to the floor, ceasing to emit that violet energy and sending its weapon flying briefly before exploding into fragments.

"It's killing time!" Stopping her forwards motion and turning towards the alien who had killed Rollins she saw the creature also dying as the mental connection between both become severed. Then another plasma shot went by her, right into the location where she'd be if she hadn't stopped to deal with the second small alien that had died suddenly and without a reason.

But it had missed.

She didn't. Taking a quick stride right after her eyes and brain had registered the afterglow of the plasma beam, she caught the alien out in the open and out in the open. Raising her rifle again, this time she trained the sights over its body before pressing the trigger and placing the magazine's last round into the head of the last alien, penetrating the hard outer tissue before ricocheting inside and turning its brain into greenish pulp.

"Central, Red Zone is secure. Alpha Four out". The moment she said those words made Bradford raise his closed fist inside Mission Control. The room's occupants had watched the Dora's rush on the Hologlobe without speaking a word after the Commander's last order and now some of the terminal operators were either briefly rubbing their eyes or sighing in relief from the build up of stress during the past hours. During the first mission there had been cheers and congratulations inside Mission Control after Ichikawa had killed the last alien but again an entire squad had been nearly wiped out in the process – and everyone now knew the price in bodies and empty names in duty rosters. There was nothing to cheer about.


	2. Two

XCOM: Omega Six

Chapter Two

The noise of the fighting had subdued leaving only the gushing wind but Patrick hardly paid attention to it while his mind was wondering on the chemical cocktail running through him.

_What are we doing here?_

Someone had asked that question at one point during the first briefing we got when we arrived at HQ. After arriving at the base after two days of traveling they immediately frisked us to the Situation Room and the Commander explained the whole deal to us. What we had been told so far when we had signed up was that we'd be a part of a top secret combat team to deal with 'special missions'. None of the recruiters explained me what that really meant and I didn't ask – target elimination, sabotage, hostage rescue, direct action, the list of ops merely depends on how much on the imagination of who's giving the orders – as well as their determination. I didn't ask either about which organization I'd be working to. Officially I'd still be attached and operating under my current unit but in reality I'd disappear from sight for the duration of the assignment – again standard procedure and the whole thing sounded more like a special task force that no one would heard about unless there was a major screw up or our target was big enough to appear on the media.

There were three others on the executive jet that flew us from the continental US to Lagos with a stop over on Hawaii – the crew only told us our destination halfway into the Pacific. We all met together on the Denver airport and despite being both in civilian dress Master Sergeant Rollins and myself had immediately recognized one another with a mutual nod at the private gate since we had operated together before but the other two passengers were obviously civilians. They presented themselves but everyone kept quiet during most of the flight until I heard the Lagos announcement and curiosity kicked in enough for me to spy on their desktops while they were working. One seemed to be mostly concerned with playing computer games during the travel but became clear that he was some sort of computer engineer. The second one was a scientist of some sort – probably biotechnology from the documents displayed on her laptop, which made me even more curious... and also a bit afraid.

Too many things starting to sound bad: it was obvious Rollins had gone completely 'black' – until I had seen him he had been reported and listed as KIA. Then Africa as our destination. And finally the bio tech stuff – most likely there was a situation going bad over there and related with biological weapons, either theirs or ours, or worse, another epidemic about to turn into a global pandemic. Why else? Well, as the Commander had pointed out to us after presenting himself on the briefing, apparently to investigate and fight alien invaders from outer space. Not with this precise words but with the same meaning.

After landing on Lagos we had to wait for several hours as more personnel arrived, apparently also in transit to the operation until we boarded a helicopter with blue U.N. markings. With the exception of the two civilians it quickly became clear that all the other arrivals were combat personnel, either by their words or the way that they moved and acted while on the terminal or boarding the helicopter. And from literally everywhere: not only from NATO and other US allies and friends but also from China, Russia, India, South America and Africa.

Dora was the first to talk during the flight. She got bored with the long helicopter journey and at one point decided to introduce himself personally and try to start a conversation in the middle of all the cabin noise – most of us didn't reply to her, some like Quang clearly ignoring her, since it became clear she was the rookie in this sort of missions. Usually everyone prefers to stick to themselves until they know who to trust and the situation was clearly strange and uneasy to everyone. The only one who talked back to her was Gunnar. The rest were left wondering about our final destination like myself or worried about something else.

The helicopter had quickly flew away from the military airbase where we had landed and eastwards into the Nigerian interior, overflying settlements until the delta of the Niger river was replaced by hilly terrain until at one point the helicopter stopped and landed on a valley where we were told to get out with our bags and wait. After it flew off a truck came by, only this time the military personnel was wearing green jumpsuits with a shield shaped insignia with an X crossed over a globe and stars and the words "VIGILO CONFIDO" on top.

Again, no explanations, no names, be driven off to whatever surprise was ahead. We were lead to a elevator accessible through an concealed entrance close to the hilltop and while descending I suddenly realized that the entire hill had been probably dug up, most likely already using natural caves.

A hidden subterranean base on the middle of Africa being run by a secret international unit? By then everyone was feeling a bit uneasy, although looking at both civilians I realized they actually seemed satisfied and unsurprised unlike all the soldiers present. Most likely they knew more than use since they'd be harder to leave all their work and move to here – after all, for us, it was merely more leg work, for them it meant their academic careers.

By then we soldiers had spent the time mostly trying to figure out the group. Mostly males and senior NCOs but also including some officers, and all seemed active combat personnel judging from their fitness and previous assignments. We had about enough personnel to form a squad so we'd be looking at small unit operations, most likely smash and grab, kill, etc. But to what propose it was the question on my head on the way down.

After a few seconds the large lift stopped and after the doors were open we were lead through a massive empty hangar and through the non-functional yet Mission Control, then up a flight of metal stairs with rubber coating and into a large room which had been furnished with cafeteria chairs while the base's senior personnel were waiting for our arrival by a large table.

A world projection was displayed on the central monitor, with two lit rows of country names on its sides grouped by continents. The shield insignia was present over central Africa and I assumed it marked the location of this facility. We were ordered to sit on the chairs deployed in rows and then the CO started gave his name and started to explain what was happening using the projection displays installed on the Situation Room.

Last year a secret Council made of of sixteen of the world's nations had decided to update and activate a covert U.N. project designed to covertly investigate and stop any possible _or_ current extraterrestrial incursion on Earth. According to him a number of 'incidents' had happened in the past that had alarmed enough the U.N. to come up with such a plan and while there was no real evidence documented the threat had recently become considered serious enough for the activation of the XCOM project, although it would take some time before we'd be operational. At this point he asked for questions and Dora was the first to raise her voice: "Sir, what we'll be doing exactly?"

Well, according to him, the Council didn't want to admit to the public that UFOs actually may be real since no one had any idea of who they are and what they want, it would be the job of XCOM, and us, to find out about the 'aliens' and determine and stop their intentions since so far there had been no attempt on the part of the occupants of those craft for peaceful communication. And if we detected any aliens on Earth then we'd deploy a small squad ahead of any national or local military and law enforcement forces to locate and evaluate the threat and engage it if necessary.

The barrage of questions started a moment after our brains had digested most of what we had heard.

"Commander, how are you so sure of the aliens' existence, sir?"

The Commander asked Dr. Vahlen to answer that question and she led us through a brief presentation of the available evidence. I had never paid any attention to UFO reports before or thought about alien life and quite honestly they should all go to hell or elsewhere and I don't think any of us was much convinced: images of radar tracks, footage of flying craft that can't be traced to any country of Earth.

There were questions about the stories of people being abducted by aliens or what they might look like but on that matter she simply discarded any possibilities considering those reports unreliable or from people wanting to get attention. As she finished off saying that if there were real alien abductions it was also more likely that none of the abductees ever escaped and came back, and if anyone had missed her expression turning dark to get the meaning, the Commander spell it out quite clearly after her: "And if they aren't trying friendly then we need to prepare for the worst."

"But have we tried contacting them, yes?" Ichikawa's voice had risen slightly above the others. The paratrooper from Japan towered over nearly everyone present in the room even though he was seated like the others.

"They are clearly not interested, soldier". Dr. Vahlen had taken the lead in answering many of the questions. "The conclusion reached by the scientific group advising the Council was that a superior extraterrestrial civilization will act according to its designs but those might not be beneficial for us. And the fact that they have not made any contact is a sign that they intend to keep their motives hidden. And throughout History we have numerous examples of how the contact with an advanced civilization brings an enormous stress to the social and cultural fabric of less developed ones, we just need to look at the history of our own countries. The best way to prepare ourselves for what might be coming is to research his new reality in order to evaluate and prepare the world for what might be coming."

"And what exactly might be coming, Doctor?" There was apprehension on Dora's voice. Hell, the whole room stank of doubt and fear amongst the weapon lockers and the steel walls – the senior personnel had more time than us to accept and learn their roles and were fulfilling their jobs but it was also clear that they were as lost as we.

The scientist struggled with words and as she was going to answer, Shen's voice spoke for the first time. He was sitting at one edge of the table and Vahlen at the other end. "If Dr. Vahlen's assumptions are correct, these phenomena are the result of intelligent entities then we are watching and participating in an event that will determine the future of this planet and our species."

He paused and his eyes swept around the room, giving me the impression that he was measuring the group. "And few people on Earth are currently able to take the leap forward in conscience that will be required. That's why we are here: it will be easier to unlearn old patterns and relearn new ones by creating a new organization".

Vahlen looked miffed by his intervention and the last part had made her turn her attention to the data pad on the table in front of her, something that the Commander had also noticed but he merely but down his hands on the table and crossed his fingers. "Both Doctor Shen and Vahlen pointed reasons for why we'll be leaving a light footprint – we'll need to learn to work as a team first and our job on the ground will be to respond to any threats but always with the bigger objectives of determining the intentions of these entities and keeping them out of public sight while collaborating with national authorities. We'll deploy fast and light and be back at the base the minute the situation is solved. More questions?"

There were still quite a few questions but after it was finished and from the look on most of us as we were heading towards the barracks section to get settled it was clear that most were still skeptic of what we had just heard, either the situation or how we would be deployed. They didn't add much else besides saying that it was the time for everyone to decide if they were inside or not. I guess I figured that either way there wasn't much of a choice: either stay and find out that the whole thing was a bust made by politicians and scientists freaking out for mistaking fart gas for UFOs or... the other possibility was both intriguing and disturbing.

In the end we all decided to sign in. Some immediately said yes, like Gunnar and Dora, while others asked to speak first with a representative from their country's government. I didn't hear anyone asking to speak with their families despite the Commander stressing that there was no way of telling how long they would have to remain secluded at HQ for security reasons. Most likely they didn't had any dependents or attachments, myself included.

After the necessary paperwork and bureaucracy we got assigned sleeping quarters and ordered by Bradford to get installed before being leading us on a base tour later on the afternoon, followed by the initial briefing. After being guided through one of the base's main corridors towards the Barracks, I found my sleeping quarter: a two bed room with individual shower, with a small alcove with a desk. A bit spartan but daily warm food and showers were a lot more comfortable that any field assignment.

Rollins stepped up by my side with his military issue duffel bag over his shoulder and asked: "Captain, can I ask you a question?"I looked around to see who might be overhearing before nodding him to go ahead. We had been ordered by the Commander to drop our former military ranks since we would be facing a completely new threat and our past experience might be useless – since we would need to learn from the start we had all been demoted to basic rank although we would keep our former ranks if we decided to come back to our militaries. I picked one of the beds and dropped my personal bag over it, starting to unzip it and store it away on compartments under the bed – we'd later be assigned with proper uniforms. "Go ahead".

"Do you believe in that alien story, Cap?" Rollins had sat on his bed and was watching me closely.

"You can drop the rank, Rollins, I'd probably be the one calling you sir soon once we are assigned to squads". Since we had worked together we had been assigned to the same two bed quarters that we'd be using while on base. "Does it matter anyhow if these things are really from space?"

"Well sir... Patrick, I've seen a lot of stuff around but this... this is the craziest story I've heard without being drunk. And I've heard a lot of good ones. Aliens? Space invaders?"

The doubt on his voice surprised me. "What's ticking you with this story? You've been around longer than me. We could be hunting terrorists or doing something else as dangerous".

"Think about it, Pat. If these aliens true exist and if they are hostile, how do you think this will end? Just look how long it took us to realize that they were even out there – I thought I was deep into black ops but this is _the_ ultimate black op - if this whole thing fails we might not even survive, as they implied".

I remember I almost stopped storing my items but I just replied that dying may not be one's worst fate - it all depends on your own personal hell – sometimes it may be worst to live.

I regretted remembering these words but to my relief he didn't continue the conversation afterwards. I also still remembered his advice once to me - too much thinking can mess your mind too much.

But later in the afternoon, things just got creepier during the detailed briefing by Vahlen– the more we knew , the more unbelievable it sounded.

There had been 'incidents' before.

Some had resulted in human casualties and/or the loss/damage of civilian/military property as a result of the UFO's actions as well as a clear interest by those entities on our military facilities, including those housing nuclear weapons. Eventualy it the number and nature of the 'incidents' had piled up until enough people started taking the matter more seriously.

Eventually they created a top secret panel of scientific and military experts that was collected to determine the nature of the UFO issue and propose future measures. The study indicated that many UFO reports had a natural or man-made origin, but the amount of cases with 'unknown' causes or explanations made it clear that there was a global unknown phenomena taking place on the planet and the most probable explanation was it being due to the presence of unknown intelligent entities.

It was probably at this moment that a few of us started taking the matter more seriously, since me and Rollins never discussed again the matter after our previou conversation. You don't go checking someone's nukes or other of their nasty secrets unless you are interested in where they'll use them, specially if you're worrying that they may be used at you. Whomever was behind this most likely meant serious business.

"While these unfortunate incidents can be explained by accidents or a cautious attitude by the part of those entities they also demonstrate the abysmal difference in technology between our human civilization and the one behind the UFOs. And if the presence of extraterrestrial life on Earth is confirmed we can't assume that their impact will be beneficial for our civilization even if they see their own intentions to be benevolent. History has shown us the results of contact between cultures with disparate technological levels tend not to be kind to the civilization less developed."

Despite this, it was also clear that a few of us still believed up to the combat drop in Germany that we still might be able to establish contact with the aliens without need to engage. Dora and Gunnar were among them and from some looks from the scientists at the galley we could also tell that they privately questioned the need for combat soldiers on the project despite the report's warning.

"Furthermore, if the existence of extraterrestrial life is confirmed and publicly revealed, it should bring political, social and economic stresses at a global scale, since the emergence of a new reality will cause many to question their personal beliefs. This may also limit the ability of national governments to respond to the new reality posed by the existence of these unknown craft, whose armed forces have admitted to be powerless to detect or stop UFOs from entering their airspace with our current state of technology."

Several actions were proposed and later implemented by the Council of nations interested in cooperating on the UFO issue, which grew over the years. But the most important was the elaboration of a plan to create a global unified defense response to deal with a potential alien threat. And now things had gone literally south again and someone had decided that it was time to activate it. It sounded either too bad or too crazy to deal with so we either kept quiet or joked about the issue.

For all we knew we might be heading into something literally out of this world or into the biggest flop ever heard.

If only things were that simple.

* * *

Most of the crew stations were now empty on Mission Control – after Alpha Four had killed the last alien and made another sweep of the Red Zone, the Commander declared it clear and ordered the crew to pack the bodies of both the fallen soldiers and the Sectoids, along with any remains of their weapons and leave quickly while giving the go ahead to the police and emergency services to move to the area and attend to the abductees who had just been spared an unknown fate.

Big Sky was on its way back to HQ, its icon fying over the Indian Ocean on the world representation that had replaced the virtual 3D battlefield on the central area of Mission Control, heading towards Africa, where another box icon represented the location of the XCOM base. Standing close to one of the stations a man dressed in green pants and pullover with the shield insignia on his chest finished listening to his comlink and turned to Bradford, who was standing across the room. "Sir, RAAF reports their radar screens have been clear for the past hour".

Officer Bradford then turned to Commander Gray and Dr. Shen who were looking at media footage on a secondary display that occupied most of one of the chamber's walls. "The unidentified airborne contact seems gone, Commander."

Dr. Shen's brow slightly rose. "Should we fear or hope for its return?" Commander Gray glanced back at Shen without replying. The screen was showing live footage of ambulances being escorted by police cruisers and driven away from the abduction site. The national news channels were already linking it to the attack on China on the previous week and the Prime-Minister was expected to issue a public statement in two hours. "It will be also officialy denied as the government of my country did?"

"Yes doctor. I already discussed it with the Council". Commander Gray was standing next to Bradford, who was holding a datapad and typing commands with his fingers on its screen. His face showed suddenly shock and Commander Gray's eyes also narrowed as he glanced at the datapad. "Sir, we may have a problem. Switching feed to the secondary display Alpha".

The live footage was replaced by the grainer stream of a movie made by a cell phone. Someone had slipped or remained behind on the abduction site and had managed to film a pair of the Sectoids as they were moving around one of the abductees.

"Some one had a pair of balls there". Shen considered that Bradford's comments were rather vulgar and unappropriate but the Commander didn't seem to pay any attention to them. "But what happened... ah".

One of the Sectoids had somehow noticed the person filming them and the last thing the digital camera had captured was a green flash and then the image twisted from one side to the other as it felt down and afterwards merely showed an empty and lit street.

Commander Gray turned away from the secondary screen and faced the Holo Globe which now displayed the Earth-Moon system as seen a higher orbit. Then he looked down his right arm and noticed that his pinky finger was extended sticking out from the rest of his closed protestic hand. Grabbing it with his live hand he quickly snapped it back into pace. "The cat is out of the bag, gentlemen. We managed to keep a lid on Germany but was just a matter of time before the story was out". Commander Gray turned to the other officers. "The question is, what will the aliens do now?"

"It seems likely they are also keeping their attention on the ground, Commander." Dr. Shen had crossed his arms in front of him and was looking through his glasses at the soldier. "If the trajectories of the pods that were launched can be traced to that airborne contact then most likely it was watching our actions after we defeated their ground force."

"So now they know that we know about them" Using his left hand Gray pushed back his short white hair.

"But that doesn't tell us how they will react. They might just ignore us".

Bradford was calling the Commander's attention to another item on his datapad .After examining it, Gray answered the engineer. "We may have other pressing problems doctor. This footage was posted on Argentinian networks and comes from one of the other abduction sites on Buenos Aires. Apparently they failed completely to stop the aliens and as a result there's a wave of panic starting to rise across the country as news of the incident are being spread".

With a flip of Bradford's fingers the image on the secondary display switched again to an Indian news channel showing the image of a Sectoid with a purple glow on its gray head, crouched behind a blasted and darkened wall and with discharging a green bream from its wrist pistol. The oracle at the bottom of the screen had the title: "INVASIÓN EXTRATERRESTRE?"


	3. Three

XCOM: Omega Six

Chapter Three

The Skyranger was racing across the upper atmosphere under a full moon after switching into supersonic mode, with its variable wings swept and the combined thrust of its five turbojet engines allowing it to cross the airspace between Australia and Africa in a matter of minutes rather than hours.

The SR-77H 'Skyranger' had been originally designed as a spin-off black project designed for a Global Strike requirement of the United States Air Force with the objective of introducing a mission package anywhere on the world in a matter of minutes. It carried the same (S)trategic (R)econnaissance designation as the famous SR-71 'Blackbird' and it had already broken a few records set by that aircraft, although this version had been designed not to carry bombs or reconnaissance sensors but instead to deploy a small strike squad using its Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) flight mode. To develop it, the designers had combined off the shelf components such as the VTOL mechanism developed for the F-35B 'Lightning II' fighter and the high-performance engines of the F-37 'Raven' fighter and placed them on a new fuselage. It allowed that with a couple of commands the pilot could switch from horizontal to vertical flight by switching the thrust of its jet engines to two large lift fans build on the base of the wings. The switch was known to its pilots as the 'hiccup' due to the aerial maneuver involved.

The original project had been canceled more than a few years ago but NASA had kept the original prototype flying for additional upper atmosphere testing and when the XCOM Project had been activated it had been assigned immediately to the unit, although requests for additional aircraft were impossible to satisfy on the short term – only a single prototype had been built and had never entered mass production and nearly all of the machinery used to built it was gone or destroyed to prevent intellectual theft. Except for the engines, but even if spare parts for those were easy to get by, NASA's engineers had kept the Skyranger flying by using it sparingly and with a lot of improvisation from its engineers – most of the craft's components had been already replaced one or more times and it had went through a series of internal adaptations to carry scientific equipment. After being assigned to XCOM it had to be re-adapted again, this time to carry a small strike squad, as it was intended for its original role.

The aircraft was the size of a bus, with the single pilot seated on a separated cockpit area with no access to the cargo area of the craft, located at the end of the craft, with the engines and fuel tanks taking up most of the middle and space available for the craft. The Skyranger's engines were huge guzzlers of jet fuel either on supersonic or vertical mode and Central had to recalculate the take-off weight and the distance to the drop zone on every mission and every single extra pound or mile would make a difference on its range.

Inside the cockpit the pilot wore a pressure suit and helmet in case he had to eject while on the high altitudes required for supersonic flight. But through his visor he could see below him the cloud cover over the Indian ocean. "Central, we have dry feet and we'll arrive soon, Big Sky out".

The Skyranger pilot's voice made Dora remove the comlink from her head, along with the black cap and goggles she was wearing. Which also prevented her from listening to the pilot's next words: "Alpha Four, hang it there. We'll be home soon".

She was the only one seated on the cargo area of the Skyranger. Opposite her Patrick was laying on a stretcher placed over the individual chairs and Rollins and Okabe rested on two black bags on the metal grated floor. The injured soldier was semi-conscious when Dora had found him next to the ruin of the exploded car but had passed out while they were evacuating him to the aircraft.

Shaking her head she then released the safety straps holding her to the seat, still trying to calm herself as the adrenaline and shock of the combat deployment were wearing off. Her mind was racing from a million details of the experience until the words suddently came out of her mind: "they were expecting us this time!". On the first combat mission the aliens seemed to have ignored Delta squad after they had wiped out the German special ops team deployed in advance and had only reacted to XCOM's presence when the team had found them. This time they had reacted to the Skyranger's arrival by setting up an ambush for Alpha squad that had left two of them dead and Patrick on its way to join Meskes at the infirmary.

The first encounter with the aliens seemed to have affirmed to everyone that their intentions were neither friendly or peaceful but now this reaction confirmed that they saw humans as a threat to their objectives. They wanted her killed, burned to death by their plasma weapons.

_It's killing time. _Her own voice had scared her even more than the sight of the Sectoids. Hearing those words during the battle had held and driven her to survive and for the first time to feel alive after seeing Gunnar die.

Opening her hands on her lap, she realized the soot and caked blood on the palms before closing them into fists.

_It's killing time._

She then leaned her body forward and after slowly resting her closed eyes on her hands started crying, with her low sobs becoming inaudible on the cargo area of the Skyranger.

* * *

_The Sectoid's head is a lot higher than normal and it has a human mouth implanted into its jaw that moves as it speaks while standing on top of the table on the Situation Room. It is wearing a Research lab coat as it paces the floor in front of the projection screen, its abdomen glowing with an orange light. The ghoul points to the electronic wall where a naked figure is laying on an examination table whose top emits an opaque white light. _

"The dominant species of this planet." The human being displayed looks eerily familiar until I realize that I'm looking at myself naked – but the sight doesn't sound weird for some reason – until I realize all the old belly scars are gone. "While individualistic this trait can also give them an interesting mix of self-preservation and allegiance".

_I'm seated directly opposite the alien and I notice that the rest of the table's seats are occupied by the rest of my unit: Dora is to the left and she's wearing a red dress that shows tanned and muscular shoulders but her face is missing the lower jaw and instead I can only see a fleshly hole below her upper lip. All the others are missing their mouths as well – Meskes on its XCOM combat uniform, Okabe in a dark green tuxedo and purple tie, Rollins dressed with the black leather jacket he was wearing at the airport. Above them the world map is completely lit in bright red while the squares of the Doom Tracker are completely lit and glowing in a multicolored flash that is projected on all polished surfaces inside the room. _

"These lifeforms should be approached with extreme caution and eliminated if required to achieve the mission's objectives". _Another Sectoid joins the first one but this one is wearing XCOM body armor with a white arctic camouflage pattern, with the knees and elbow pads sticking out from the middle of its limbs. Unlike the second one it has no mouth but it is wearing a headset with a glowing red light by the mouthpiece and is holding an X-9 Assault Rifle on its hands. The mouthed Sectoid glares at it in hatred both rushing for cover amongst the weapon lockers and crates of equipment that are surrounding the chaired area. _

_I feel a hand on my shoulder and when I turn my head I see Vahlen standing next to me and she's naked but her body features reflect are those of a Sectoid, with no visible genitalia or other human features, her skin having been switched to a whitish tone and a blank chin where her mouth would be, but I still manage to hear her words._

"Recovering specimens for further research is critical for our research efforts – we need take any actions necessary otherwise the survival of our species will at stake".

As Vahlen moves on the aisle between the rows of chairs all of the other members of the combat team slowly turns their necks, or what's left of them, to face her.

With the exception of Dora, which now is standing, her naked shoulders standing out against the deep red robes that cover her completely except for the head, which is covered in a red and golden tiara. She moves over following Vahlen and I see her royal red cape sweeping empty bullet cartridges on the floor of the Armory aside.

The Sectoids look scared at Vahlen as she takes their place but don't move anymore and are also waiting. She has the XCOM shield insignia over her flat bare chest. "Starting in 1989 there was a wave of UFO sightings in Belgium that a posterior top secret NATO investigation failed to properly explain since the end of the Cold War had removed the most likely source for those reports."

"Why?" _The question comes from Dora, who has stopped right in from of Valhen, who keeps speaking as we all hear in silence Vahlen's words again._ "On the following years there were other incidents spread throughout the world, with the 1996 Varginha case in Brazil and the 1997 Phoenix Lights in Arizona being the most publicized.

"Why had we ignored their presence for sixty years!?" _Dora's accusation makes Okabe mouth suddenly erupting in a pool of blood and his hands move upwards towards his throat as he starts falling towards the ground._ "Why no one ever thought of this before?!"

_The Sectoid Vahlen stares back at her and the two other creatures lurking in the back making skittering sounds.__She snares back at Dora_. "But we haven't ignored... _you_".

* * *

HUMAN-ALIEN INTERACTION SCENARIOS

1st CONTACT (Beneficial Mankind/Altruistic Aliens)

* Communication

* Cooperation

REALPOLITIK (Beneficial Mankind/Egotistic Aliens)

* Trade

* Competition

* Coevolution

* Expansion

HUMAN THREAT (Harmful Mankind/Altruistic Aliens)

1. _Threat to the 'natural order'?_

_2. Mismanagement?_

_3. Higher aim?_

___All of those scenarios at the same time point towards a developed logic on the part of the extraterrestrial intelligences that must be understood in order to see if it is possible to achieve a compromise or to determine why our existence _

* Deliberate isolation

* Interference

* Premptive Attack

* Annihilation? (_unlikely - if that is their intention then they would have achieved this by now we will either be powerless to stop it) _

TARGET EARTH (Harmful Mankind/Egotistic Aliens)

_Earth as resource and/or prey?_

* Migration

* Exploitation

* Domination

* Extermination

OTHER FACTORS

_Situational Hazards_

_* _Cultural Shock

* Physical/ Biological Hazards

* Incompetence/ Error

_I__ndividual Dangers_

_*_ Intentionally Hiding

* Outside Context Problem

"Recovery crew, please report to your stations. Big Sky ETA one-five minutes and counting". The computer generated voice was announced throughout the base and paused for a second before repeating itself down the corridor outside the lift and further throughout the XCOM base. "Recovery crew..."

As the lift doors closed Dr. Vahlen's eyes barely glanced upwards over the top of her datapad and spoke. "Central, Hangar".

"Yes, Dr. Vahlen". The Artificial Intelligence set the lift moving and afterwards the computer voice was heard but she ignored it as she kept contemplating the notepad in front of her.

_We've confirmed their existence but we are still struggling as to the reasons of their presence on Earth – both encounters confirmed their interest on us but also their inherent hostility if we try to approach them or somehow disrupt their activities. But to what overall objective? They are clearly not interested in sharing their technology and if we want to learn we'll have to discover that information ourselves, despite their reservations in keeping their advanced knowledge away from us._


End file.
